Durban beachfront on the east coast of Africa, is famous for stunning sunrises, super surf, endless stretches of white beach sand for leisurely walks and safe bathing spots with shark nets and lifeguards. Durban also is popular with anglers; our mild sub-tropical climate and the warm Indian Ocean makes this everyone's playground all year round. No wonder Durban Tourism uses the slogan - Durban the warmest place to be every winter.
I'm sharing structures of a different kind with you today - Sand structures as well as concrete piers that jut into the sea.
Fishing is not permitted on most of the piers, much to the ire of many subsistence fishermen.
Despite protests and resistance the authorities refuse to budge - of course over-fishing is a problem and also kills this little industry so this rules is quite justified, but there's always two sides to the coin as for these fishermen there is no other way of making an income.
One further needs a licence to fish and have to adhere to the strict rules - there is a closed season for shad, a very popular table fish; and they also need to adhere to minimum catch sizes which varies from fish to fish. Marine biologists encourage fishermen to catch and release during the off-season as well as when a fish is undersized.
This is for the benefit of all; sad to say man has done more harm than good in many instances!
The sand artists rely on the public for income, whereas many of us believe they should be employed by our tourism bodies as their work is quite an attraction!
Services they offer is advertising for local businesses, birthday wishes for loved one, proposals for young lovers, even sending out conservation messages such as the one shown above about Rhino poaching which has become a massive problem in our province Kwazulu Natal.
We often drive down to the beach for an early morning breakfast and on this occasion they had built an impressive structure of the Big Five of South Africa - Lion, Leopard, Rhinoceros, Elephant, and the Cape Buffalo.
Taking a walk on one of the piers gives one a view of the hotels along the Golden Mile as well as the neighbouring pier; the impressive soccer stadium Moses Mabhida with its magnificent arches can be seen way in the background; it was a rather dull day the morning I took this photo with my cell phone.
And a last look at our talented sand structure artists' work.
I do hope you enjoyed this look at structures of a different kind which has been my contribution to @photochallenge's Share your Structure Photos on Whaleshares where this was first posted.
I have edited it for Steemit wanting to tell you a little more about the plight of the fishermen and the fish themselves!
Original Content by @lizelle
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